• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, February 2, 2012

As Facebook watchers showed on Thursday, there are countless ways to perceive the company’s looming IPO, it future prospects, and likely impact on the Web.

First off, AllThingsD is dumbfounded by fact that Facebook generated a “crazy” $3.15 billion in ad revenue last year despite its admission that the whole monetization system remains experimental. “That seems to be a pretty awesome experiment.”

What’s more, “industry and financial analysts say that a huge influx of cash could enable [Facebook] to topple Google from its dominant position in the online world,” Computerworld reports.

That said, new data released by Facebook reveals that growth is actually slowing, and, as Forbes writes, “unless it can find a way to speed it back up, investors in its shares will not be happy campers.”

Also, as outlined by The Guardian, another key issue facing Facebook is its mobile ad strategy, or lack thereof. Fuelling the company’s growth, Facebook had more than 425 million monthly active mobile users in December. As Facebook admits, however, “such usage does not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue," because it currently has no mobile advertising.

Echoing many a critic, Fast Company anticipates a more conservative, less creative, profit-driven Facebook going forward. “So far Zuckerberg has had more or less free reign … to do as he wishes with the site,” it writes. When Facebook becomes accountable to its shareholders, that will change … That means there will likely be fewer surprising and delightful features that Zuck thinks are a good idea--and that users enjoy.”

Indeed, as Reuters writes: “The relatively carefree days of super-charged user growth may be behind Facebook, analysts say, as the social networking company begins the difficult task of living up to Wall Street's lofty expectations under a public microscope.”

Still, as GigaOm reports, “Much like Netscape and Google before it, the $5 billion offering [by Facebook] is being viewed as the much-awaited catalyst for the technology industry and is expected to set off a flurry of activity.”